“Project Gunrunner” deployed new teams of agents to the southwest border. The idea: to stop the flow of weapons from the US to Mexico’s drug cartels.

And how did they plan to “stop” the flow of weapons?

In late 2009, ATF was alerted to suspicious buys at seven gun shops in the Phoenix area. Suspicious because the buyers paid cash, sometimes brought in paper bags. And they purchased classic “weapons of choice” used by Mexican drug traffickers – semi-automatic versions of military type rifles and pistols.

Sources tell CBS News several gun shops wanted to stop the questionable sales, but ATF encouraged them to continue.

That’s right. They were going to “stop” them by encouraging them to continue. Much like how expanding availability and quality of care is going to bring health care prices down, how spending more is going to decrease the deficit and how raising taxes is going to lower unemployment.

It’s some sort of strange, Federal Math™ that we can’t quite figure out how works. The only thing we do know is that it doesn’t work in the dimension that we inhabit.

ATF managers allegedly made a controversial decision: allow most of the weapons on the streets. The idea, they said, was to gather intelligence and see where the guns ended up. Insiders say it’s a dangerous tactic called letting the guns, “walk.”

In the end, they had about 2,500 guns “walking around”, including some .50 cals, which sounds more like a “stampede” to us than a “walk.”

CBS News has been told at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. “It got ugly…” said one. There was “screaming and yelling” says another. A third warned: “this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed.”

Yeah, well… It’s all fun and games and Federal “strategery” until somebody kills a Border Patrol Agent.

Then, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. The serial numbers on the two assault rifles found at the scene matched two rifles ATF watched Jaime Avila buy in Phoenix nearly a year before.

More importantly: Let him buy. Actually, insisted that he be allowed to buy.

Maybe it’s time we introduced some legislation to stop the ATF Gun Running Loophole?™ We mean, if it saves a single life, right? Its continued existence has already cost plenty.

In a letter, the Justice Department which oversees ATF says the agency has never knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspected gunrunners.

He was even WORSE than we thought, and that’s goin’ some. His maggot-infested remains should be dug out of Arlington Cemetery, where they desecrate the hallowed grounds of heroes and patriots, and thrown into a sewage pit. More important, this link should be sent to everyone far and wide.

• “While [the married] Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.”
• “[I]n each country Kennedy insisted on interviewing ‘the angry young men’ of the country. He wanted to meet with communists and others who had left-wing views. …Ambassador Freeman, Bogota, said the first person whom Kennedy wanted to meet was Lauchlin Currie.” (The document subsequently identifies Currie as a person who “had been mentioned in Washington investigations of Soviet spy rings.”)
• “[I]n Mexico Kennedy asked Ambassador Mann that certain left-wingers be invited to the Embassy residence where interviews could be held. Mann took the strong position that he would not invite such people and stated that if any such interviews were to be conducted, all arrangements should be made by Kennedy himself.”

Nothing gets me convulsing in laughter like one of His Majesty’s Imperial Fiskings.

The subject, however, leaves me immensely concerned for our folks serving on the border.

Remember: it was ATF agents that attacked the Branch Davidians in Mt. Carmel, Texas and…ahem…essentially walked right into a bunch of folks armed to the teeth prepared to defend themselves from their itchy trigger fingers. The FBI covered up their mess and their own.

The prime motivation was to allow weapons purchased in America to flood into Mexico,
to become “evidence” for the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons ban. It was entirely politically
motivated to undermine gun owner’s rights, and further debase our Constitution.

The ATF has been a loose-cannon agency for the last 50 years. It’s time to defund it, and disband
it completely.

What astonishes me is that we are still using the antiquated system of background checks designed to prevent a power-mad psycho, drug-smuggling, cop-killing, terrorist, narco-Columbian warlord from buying a .38 caliber revolver, but the ATF system insists that he walk out with a thousand assault rifles, submachine guns, and Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles.

Next time I’m in a gun store I think I’ll ask about buying their entire stock of assault rifles, saying the reason for my purchase is to arm my meth-fueled gang of murderers, thieves, and rapists so they can kill as many cops and pregnant women as possible, while commiting a string of bank robberies and running a cocaine smuggling ring targeting school kids. Then the clerk (and the couple cops who are always stopping by the gun store) will say, “Oh, okay. Just so long as the ATF can use the serial numbers to verify that you’re using the guns to kill police officers and pregnant women like you stated on the form. You know, if you just wanted a pistol we’d have to turn you down, but since you’re equipping an army of narco-Columbians. the federal policy is to insist that the sale go through, even if we have to forego collecting sales tax to sweeten the deal.”

Antipodean Greetings to all the Rott Empire, and Hail to the Emperor (may his reign spread terror in the hearts of the feckless forever) (MHRSTITHOTFF).

First post for a while, but speaking from a country that all but forbids citizen ownership of any firearm stronger than a peashooter*, does it strike anyone as likely that this is a double play? Will we soon hear that gun stores/ shows need to be more closely monitored to ensure that firearms don’t get into the hands of criminals?

Even from this far away, I can smell the funk of conniving bastards.

*Note: I have had to apply for a license to import weapons – just because I need a green laser pointer for my work.